Wednesday, February 3, 2010

So many ideas for this gorgeous gift of yarn from South America.....but i think i need to go with Sarah's idea of a lap blanket. We all snuggle under blankets when we watch movies or listen to stories and this will allow everyone to share and enjoy our gift. looks like it will knit up pretty quick. can't wait to see it finished.

Monday, February 1, 2010

So it's time to tell about our family's change for February. It has ended up we have made a few changes here so I will talk about them all. First, I will again warn there will be words about feminine hygiene products, not interested? skip this post.

So first off we bought an awesome drying rack for clothes.(did you notice the tarp with all the dirt? pretty awesome huh? try not to be jealous. Here in Maine we had 6 straight -yes literally, weeks of rain this summer. This has made for some wet fire wood. We have to bring grips of it indoors to dry before we can burn it. As a bonus, when we first bring it in, we are blessed with usually about 10 mosquitoes, as if all the bugs in the spring and summer weren't bad enough) we normally hang clothes to dry in the good whether. But lets face it, cloths dry rather slowly when its below zero outside. So, basically my dryer runs all day. I imagine it is a huge chunk of the electric bill. Drying racks have never before entered the picture for two reasons. one, they are tiny and I do three loads of laundry a day, really they would be pretty useless here. Also, I see one and immediately think "that thing is so flim-flam, it will be broken within the week. Sorry, but things break here. 4 boys, 2 puppies! Well we found a giant GIANT Maine made high quality one at our local small time department store. I love it! it fits about 2 loads of laundry at a time. And thanks to the wood stove, they dry quite fast. It also helps add moisture to our house. The wood stove makes it very dry. I have not run my dryer since Friday. I think this should make quite a difference in our electric bill. Next month we will likely buy a second one and that should eliminate all dryer use.

Next, I started the family cloths. I did cheat a little and purchase them, but I knew if I had to sew them, it would never happen. So I went to my trusted Cloth diapering site and bought organic cotton terry wipes. Only 20 for now. They are not cheap! I also made it optional. They are there for those who choose to use them. I'm guessing that will make 4 cloth wipe users(one during diaper changing) and two toilet paper lovers. I can understand. I likely would have run away if my mom tried this when I was 15. I think they will come around eventually. I also explained that if we end up building a house and using an outhouse, they will have to use them. If you want more info, click the one small change link to the right. Basically for us, we keep a cloth washable water proof bag(also from that site) in the bathroom for used wipes. Then, I will take the bag, dump it into the wash with the diapers (the bag as well) and wash it up. I do one cycle cold cold no soap (I sometimes add 1/4 cup baking soda) and then one cycle hot/cold with my o-nature-l detergent. This is the only "hot" wash I run here.

While on the Nurtured Family Sight, I also bought cloth menstrual pads. They are almost too pretty to use! They too will go right in with my cloth diapers which I wash about every other day. I have been using the Diva cup for about 6 months now and am very happy with it, but wanted these to supplement it's usage. This diva cup is pretty awesome. I'm not going to get into detail of its use, but do check it out. It takes a little getting used to, but other than that it's pretty great.

So those are our February changes.

On a side note, our good friends returned from their three week honeymoon to South America and brought us the best gifts! Totally unexpected, and totally loved! I will show some fiber love later this week. Damn we missed those two! Seems like it was three months!

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About Me

We are a family of six, living in beautiful rural Maine. I am a Certified Lactation Counselor, A Trained Child Birth Educator, Labor Doula, and Postpartum Doula,I am honored to work with growing families in the Western Mountains of Maine. Things are constantly changing here. We blog, to share and keep a reminder of our day to day life during this amazing time of raising 5 boys!